Unable to stay, Unwilling to leave
by Devils.Angel.89
Summary: 1,412 Miles lay between them and a safe haven but she was determined to make it alive. When Ariadne Manning leaves Atlante with her brother, two best friends and a handfull of other survivors, she never expected to run into the one man who makes her blood run both hot and cold. And Daryl Dixon never expected to run into the one woman he actually wanted to keep safe...


**Unable to stay, Unwilling to leave**

**Prologue**

_Once __they__ were the hunters, now __they __were nothing more th__a__n the hunted. Gone were the days where __they__didn't__ have to fight to put food in __their__ stomachs, where nightmares __weren't__ real... __Now __they__ were living the nightmare._

_She remembered this as a lone tear made it's way down her cheek. Hot flames licked at the sky, reflecting in her shimmering eyes and the smoke made it hard to breath as she watched the store burn from which they had barely made it out of. The street around her was covered in debris, Walkers, glass, bricks... almost everything in the immediate surroundings of the store had been seriously damaged, if not completely destroyed._

_However it wasn't so much the store or the smoke that made tears burn her eyes, it was the feeling of loss and the realization that no matter how safe they thought they were, they always found them and now she was alone. _

_The last survivor of the little group she had left the University with two years ago._

_Out of the seven of them that had managed to get out of the city, Ariadne was the last one standing. She had beaten the odds, even if it should have been her blowing the hell out of those dead bastards._

_The hand on her arm was a warm welcome, Ariadne was at the point where she almost welcomed the bloody hand of death. She didn't even put up much of a fight, apart from flinching slightly at the feel of blood. They were always covered in blood... But instead of the clawing or the blinding pain she had expected, there was a gentle tugging... _

_The rushing in her ears subsided as her heart slowed, and all Ariadne could hear was chaos. Screaming, moaning, shots being fired._

"_Baby doll, we need to go! Now!" a familiar gruff voice yelled over the noise. "Come on!"_

_Once again, Daryl Dixon was going to play the role as her savior, even when there was nothing left in Ariadne to be saved..._

_**Two Years Earlier**_

"Where have ya been? Are you and Luc okay?" It was obvious from her Dad's shaky and high-pitched greeting that he was somewhat annoyed with them.

"Well, I'm home now and I answered, didn't I? We must be okay then." Ariadne admitted, rolling her eyes at her brother across their living room. She was gruff and sarcastic, but it was indicative of her day so far. "Are you okay?" She asked.

He began rattling off the news, what the talking-heads were saying on TV, what he could find online, but she wasn't listening. She was replaying the morning's events in her head. She had woken up slightly late and had to rush, not even turning the TV on as she gulped down her coffee, before rushing off to her first lesson, but it turned out she had rushed for nothing. Everything had been on shut down, students and professors all citing bits of information they had heard of the news or read on the internet. Just like her dad.

Already some kids were panicking, and by the time she had found Teeva, Lucas, Ryan and Lucas's additional weight Alexandria, she was ready to blow a fuse at the next person who even uttered the freaking word: Zombie.

No one could really believe that reanimated corpses had risen from dead to attack people, like the news was apparently telling everyone ... could they?

Someone had fallen for a big ass prank if you asked Ariadne Manning.

Lucas looked up from his book, smirking as he raised his arms and starting making groaning noises, making their two roommates and his girlfriend bust out laughing. Ryan joined in making it even harder not to laugh out loud, while not listening to her father drone on and on. Ariadne pulled a face at them all before leaning up against the cold, bright orange wall of their apartment living room, looking out the window towards the street, where she could normally watch everyday life go on. But today it was different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt a clenching in her gut that told her something was going to go seriously wrong.

She took a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts, when she heard her fathers sharp voice. "Did ya do as I told ya?"

Again she rolled her eyes. Sometimes – as much as she loved her dad – she could ring his beefy neck with all his conspiracy crap!

"Yes, Daddy." she replied, trying not to let him catch on to how much she didn't want to have this conversation with him. She kept her voice calm just like her mother had done, when Ariadne was a child and her father decided to lock them all up in the bunker, for whatever reason. She was humoring him and she was sure her Dad knew just that. "We're secure and waitin' for 'em to start the evacuation. Got enough food and water for three days, just like ya told us."

She didn't need to mention that they always had enough food and water in the apartment. And a few extras that were well hidden from nosy on-site officials, after Lucas and Ryan sneaked them in to make Saturdays more interesting while the game was on. Like the bottles of Corona in her brothers hand. Yeah, dad didn't need to know everything that was going on.

"Don't worry about what other people are doing. Keep ya door shut and locked, and don't open it for anybody unless ya knew they were comin' in advance. Keep the windows covered and no lights after dark. If no one comes to get ya out in three days, get the hell out of Atlanta and come home. I mean it Ari, do ya understand?"

Dad was firm and almost sounded like drill sergeant. She wasn't sure why, but for the first time since she was a child, she actually felt a tug of worry. Maybe her dad wasn't just raving like usual. Maybe they did have to worry. But then looking over to Lucas and Ryan, she shook the feeling off. It was just some stupid prank, not real. This was not Hollywood.

"Ariadne McKenzie Manning, are ya listenin' to me?!" Mitchell Manning snapped when she didn't reply.

Jumping at the sound of her fathers worried voice, she almost dropped her phone. "Yeah, I'm here. We know what to do, Daddy, stop worryin'."

She watched as another car screeched out of the parking lot with a blinding speed. Probably just another student choosing to believe the idiocy of CNN or whatever news channel you tuned into. Shaking her head slightly Ariadne turned back away from the window.

'_Some people __will__ be seriously pissed in the morning when the truth c__omes__ out,' _she thought, sighing.

"I need to gather my supplies and then I'll contact you. Remember what I said – keep that door shut and locked… no matter what. And please, please be careful and watch out for each other." His voice started picking up that whiny quality that made Ariadne want to jab a fork in his eye, because she just couldn't deny him much as soon as he started with it, and her father knew it. It didn't matter what he wanted, it never had when he used that tone of voice, she would jump and do exactly what her father wanted her to. He was guilt tripping her and they both knew it.

"We'll be careful." she promised, brushing a strand of auburn hair out of her face as she reached towards her brother for her bottle of Corona. At least someone here knew how to keep a level head. If you called acting like a totally crap zombie movie reject levelheaded. Luc would never make a good actor, she mused, raising the bottle to her lips to take a sip.

"I'll call ya again in one hour. If the phones ain't down by then. Love ya, Kenz."

"Love ya too, daddy." She hung up quickly, not giving him a chance to stall with more of his unnecessary pleading. Her head had started to ache, spreading down her neck like tendrils of flame as she pressed it back against the cool wall, closing her eyes.

She could hear the groaning and shuffling about all around her as her brother and his best friend pretended to be zombies, but chose to ignore it. She had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen, but to be honest she didn't want her brother thinking she was buying her dads zombie-bull. He'd just laugh it off, calling her an idiot for believing their father. Just like he used to when they were kids.

"Headache?" a soft female voice asked next to Ariadne. She could tell whose voice that was any time of the day, so she didn't even need to open her eyes to know that her best friend was watching her with worried eyes and a grim smile. Teeva Delos had been grim ever since it was clear that they weren't going out partying that evening, even though it was Friday night.

"'Ave ya tried to talk to my dad before, Tee? He's major migraine material."

Teeva laughed quietly and was brushing her blonde hair out of her face as Ariadne opened her eyes to look at her. "Guess anyone would have a headache, after dealing with Mr Conspiracy."

Of course Teeva knew what Ariadne's dad was like, they had been best friends since they were babies and when Teeva's parents disappeared a few years ago, Mary and Mitchell Manning had taken her in as one as their own. She was the little sister Ari never dreamed of having and Lucas wanted to kill more times then not. Someone to hold on to when Ariadne and Lucas lost their mother in a car accident just the year before.

"Tell me again why Luc made me take the call?" Ariadne asked looking around the room. Nothing had really changed in the few moments, expect that her brother was now lip-locked to his girlfriend. She seriously didn't see what he saw in the little two-timing barbie bitch, but then again maybe she was just pissed because she hardly ever got to spend time with him anymore, because he was always with Alexandria.

Teeva followed her friends line of sight, making a point with a single glare at Alexandria and immediately started gagging. Loudly.

"Get a room, will ya? Y'all makin' the kids wanna puke." Ryan laughed, as he shoved his best friend off the couch. "Someone turn the news on, I wanna see what all this freaking Hollywood drama is about."

Alexandria squealed with laughter causing Ariadne to wince. Crap, could the freaking woman get any more freaking irritating than she already was? Why couldn't Lucas have found a nice country girl to fall in love with, rather than this bleach blonde Californian barbie doll? If there really was an Apocalypse she certainly hoped Barbie got bit first, or she might just be tempted into feeding her to some hungry dogs.

The TV flashed brightly, but Ariadne tuned it out, sitting down on the edge of the couch with her eyes closed again. She couldn't see what was being broadcasted, but she could hear it. People attacking people in broad daylight. The police telling people to stay inside and not answer their doors.

"Yeah, like that's gonna freaking happen." Lucas mumbled, from somewhere on the floor. Maybe he didn't think their father was losing it after all. "That bunch of fuckin' idiots are gunna clog up the Interstate for no fuckin' reason! And tomorrow they'll all be cussin' cuz this was nothin' more than a stupid prank."

Then again, Ariadne would be concerned for him if he changed his tune that easily.

"The only Biters we got are in Hollywood movies and idiots doped on bath salts." Ryan agreed over the top of the news reader.

"Maybe it's just some Halloween pre-run."

This was going no where, and considering their dad had said to wait three days or come home, Ariadne knew she didn't have much choice. If it wasn't just kids doped up on bath salts, she wouldn't stand a chance on making it back to Texas on her own. Sure she could hunt and had done survival training in the past, because her dad wanted his kids to always be prepared – '_Just in case, Ari. Just in case.'_ he had always said, and maybe he was right for once. But she had spent so much of her summer sessions making sure Tee didn't kill herself or Lucas didn't kill Tee, that she couldn't recall most her training.

_Anything could happen while you sat there hunched over your books, trying your hardest to study while your idiotic brother and his best friend were make total fools of themselves. But no one in this room really believes in a freaking Zombie attack, _Ariadne mused, rubbing her forehead.

"_- is calling a State of Emergency." _Some news reader said. "_Even though it is not yet exactly clear what is causing these people to attack other people, the police of Atlanta are asking you to stay in your homes, unless of an emergency. And if you must go out, the public is being asked to avoid greatly populated areas and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings. Please, be alert and aware of your surroundings and pay attention to local news media reports."_

Ariadne's eyes flew open. State of emergency? Here in Atlanta?

"Oh, come on!" Ryan and Lucas both shouted at the TV. They had tickets for some game, which was suppose to happen the next day.

"Shut it, guys!"

"-_ongly recommend that citizens traveling to or residing in __Atlanta to check the city's website, to__ g__et__ the latest security updates. __Please c__ontact __your local police department__ for up-to-date information on travel restrictions. You can also call __the emergency number, on the scr-_"

The news reader didn't get any further, as Lucas suddenly turned the TV off, and for a few moments they all just sat there staring at the dark screen.If they were calling a State of Emergency then something was seriously wrong. Teeva was the first to speak.

"They wouldn't call a State of Emergancy if it was just some kids messing about... would they?" she sounded worried, her light blue eyes flicking from Lucas, to Ryan, to Alexandria and then to Ariadne, before going back to Lucas. "They would know if it was just a joke right?"

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, Tee." Lucas reassured her, reaching over Alexandria to pat his adopted sisters knee. His smile and words might have said not to worry, but Ariadne could tell he wasn't so sure he believed in his own words. And when his eyes met hers, she knew he was just as worried as she was. "Isn't there some new horror movie coming out at the end of the month?"

"Yeah, it's about Zombies or something like that."

"They might just be overrun because the actors are in town or something." Luc suggested, fingering something in his pocket.

"Trust me, if there were any actors in town, me and your little sister would not be sitting here."

Ariadne couldn't help but smirk slightly. Of course Tee would know if there were any actors in town, she was like a freaking guy magnet. When they were younger it was great, Teeva Delos's charm got them into every bar downtown and even got them served all night long. Ari couldn't remember ever coming home sober or broke, all thanks to the blonde haired girl who was currently trying not to laugh as Ryan started making zombie noises again.

Ari swatted at someone hands as they reached over her shoulders, not sure if it was Luc or Ryan's breath she felt down her neck. Maybe she should have taken Teeva up on heading out into town for a drink or two, anything would be better than dealing with Ryan and Luc making light of the whole situation. Next time someone made her stay at home with her brother instead of going out on the town, she was going to smash whatever object she held in her hand at that moment over said persons head. Ari was sure of it.

"Would you two stop acting like total douche bags?" she snapped at both boys, now that Lucas and Ryan had found their not so funny humor again. Couldn't_ they just stay serious for more then __five__ freaking minutes?, _She thought glaring daggers at Ryan as he reached for her hair. "This is getting boring now, guys."

"Try telling that to the news freaks and dad, Kenz." Luc replied, shooting her the million dollar smile of his, that made the most girls hearts go pitter patter.

She supposed they would have believed her if Alexandria and Teeva didn't start laughing, as Lucas pretended to bite her neck. Ariadne rolled her eyes, slamming her elbow up to connect with her older brothers ribcage. "Back off, Luc." she hissed at him as he groaned in pain and let himself fall on the leather seating next to her. "Next time I'm aiming lower." she warned, eying up Ryan, who quickly moved on to Teeva.

Satisfied she would be left to her thoughts for a while longer now that the boys had been warned off, Ariadne lifted her bottle back to her lips just as her mobile started ringing. Had it been an hour already? She hadn't even been watching the clock, let alone actually taking any of her fathers safety measures. Chucking the phone towards her brother, she lowered the bottle from her lips. "You turn, lover boy."

Luc just groaned as he caught her phone and watched his sister leave the room.

Hours went by without any change about Atlanta on the news, campus was getting quieter now that so many students had left, while Ari and her friends were still sat in the living room. Half eaten plates of curry littered the coffee table, along with more beer bottles. All eyes were on screen as they silently watched the first sightings of the so called Zombies appear on screen. New York City looked like something out of a horror-movie, if the reports were true.

Ari looked over to her brother, nodding slightly as he caught her eye. This wasn't something that some college kids had started, this was real. how long did they have before it hit the campus? Ariadne pried her hand out of Teeva's and shook her head. "We need to get out of here, guys."

Even though their dad had said to wait a couple of days, she had a gut feeling that they didn't have a few days. Everything felt terribly wrong – from the pictures of New York, to the announcement that the military had arrived to make a Safety Zone in Atlanta for people who hadn't been attacked. "That Safe Zone isn't gunna hold long."

"Dad said to stay put, Ari." Luc argued, returning his gaze back to the TV. Ariadne guessed he was trying not to scare Alex and Tee, but at this moment she didn't really care about scaring either one of them. She wanted to get out of the city and be far away when shit it the fan. There was no way she wanted to be anywhere near the city when the world went to hell in a hand basket.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Luc." she disputed. "And if there is one thing I always trust since I started hanging with Teeva, it's my gut, Lucas."

"Yeah, AK's ri -" Teeva stopped mid-sentence to smack her best friend on the back of the head. "Hey!"

"Sorry, Tee."

"Yeah, like that's gunna wo-"

_**BANG!**_

Her voice was cut off and all of them jumped out of their skins. Ariadne's heart was racing as she jumped up from her seat and raced to the darkened window. That sounded like a gun shot, a gun shot which was way too near campus for her liking. And then another gun shot echoed through the night, just as the lights cut out.

Alexandria and Teeva screamed, while Ariadne heard her brother and Ryan scramble to their feet. Her heart was racing in her chest. She couldn't see anything outside; the street lights wear out, just like the lights in the apartment. Outside there was more screaming, while students inside who had stayed behind started leaving their apartments looking up and down the hallway, shouting and panicking.

"Anyone got a flash light?"

"I've got a lighter, if that helps."

She could hear the strained voices from Lucas and Ryan behind her but tried her hardest to ignore them while she remembered what her father had always told her.

"_See, anyone with half a brain should know this by now: you must have a Zombie Plan. MUST. Sure it might sound crazy, but who's going to live and who's not?" _Mitchell would say, even though Ariadne was never sure if he was joking or not until today.

Her dads plan for an Apocalypse was mostly him staying where he was and hiding in his bunker out the back of their house for as long as he could. The location couldn't have been any better, but then again, Ariadne was sure he had built the house for exactly this kind of reason. His only concern was supplies, which he had been gathering for years on end. Anything that was on offer, anything that could be stored and kept for a long period of time, Mitchell Manning had locked in his bunker. It was just the matter of getting there.

"Shut off the freakin' light!" Ariadne hissed as something slouched into view.

"Ari?" Tee whispered and although she could hear her friends fear, Ariadne shook it off, watching as something came into view fighting and the urge to puke all over the her apartment floor. Ryan would so not appreciate her puking curry and beer onto the carpet when it was his week to clean. Not like that exactly mattered anymore, when you thought about it.

"Guys, we need to get out of here as soon as possible." she managed to get out, unable to take her eyes of the thing that was once a human being. "Dad was wrong. No help is comin'."

"Ariadne, are you sure?" Lucas sounded worried, maybe even a little scared as he came closer to look out of the window. He watched the carnage for several minutes, as whatever the thing was that had wandered onto the housing site, ambling around aimlessly. It had a uniform on, army if she guessed right, and was dragging his left leg. But that wasn't what held Ariadne's eye on him... It was the guys shoulder and neck. It looked like some animal had attacked him and had taken off with some vital pieces. Like his whole right arm. And he wasn't alone, he had a friend or two with him, who looked just as bad. So much for a help for those who stayed behind.

What happened next reminded Ariadne of a serious car accident; you couldn't look but you couldn't look away either. No matter how much the sight in front of you made you want to puke, you continued to stare. One of the few students that had stayed behind had walked out towards the guys in uniform, obviously not seeing what she was seeing or not wanting to believe what she was seeing, but before anyone Ariadne could unlatch the window to shout out a warning, the Stiff had her. Ariadne's stomach lurched as she watched the girl struggle against the hand that held her tight. She stumbled backwards, falling to the ground. The body fell with her and after it came its friends.

Screaming rang through the night as the Stiffs tore through clothing, flesh, and muscle, causing Ariadne's stomach to clench ever tighter. Her chest lurched like a pair of bellows, and yet the air yielded nothing; her vision blotched over like a blizzard. She closed her eyes and waited for the sickening feeling to pass. Lucas's hand slipped to his cell phone when length of intestines was ripped from one of their former peers. By this time Teeva, Alexandria and Ryan had joined them at the window, each of them with similar looks of disbelieve and disgust etched onto their faces as they saw what was transpiring outside, before Alexandria turned away gagging slightly.

"What the fuck?" Ryan hissed, his hand over his mouth like he was going to throw up as well.

"I'm sure enough, Luc." Ariadne whispered answering her brothers question, after she forced herself to look away from the carnage outside. She pulled the curtains closed and taking a deep, not so calming breath. "If we wait till mornin', we could be dead. Or be totally cut off from the cars."

At this Alexandria started whimpering and Teeva's head whipped around towards her friend. "What do we do?" she whispered, taking some steps back away from the windows and doors.

"We need some supplies." Lucas started, trying to remember everything his father had told him. "Canned foods, water, clothes, weapons... anything that could keep while we run."

"Where... where... are we going to go?" Alexandria managed to ask, clearly terrified as hell, but also realizing that now wouldn't be the best of times to totally panic. "Into the city?"

"Texas." Teeva replied, like she had just remembered it. "We need to get to the bunker."

"What bunker?"

Ariadne rolled her shoulders back, stepping into the middle of the room, next to her brother. If there was any way out of this apartment complex alive, Lucas would come up with a plan. He was good at stuff like this. Like the time their father had "lost" them in the woods when they were kids and they couldn't find a way back straight away, it was Luke who had taken the command, keeping Ariadne and Teeva calm while finding a way home. They had been lost in those woods for two days, walking in circles, not even that far from their own house, with just a bottle of water and not much food. It was Lucas that had found a shelter for his sisters at night. It was Lucas who nearly starved himself so that Ariadne and Teeva had enough to eat.

For a moment, she didn't feel like the world was going to shit in a handbag, she couldn't hear the screaming from outside. Ariadne knew she would be just like Alexandria if she didn't trust in her brother, so she focused on the only thing that mattered.

How to survive.

That's why she let Lucas take the lead, let him explain what they were going to do. She caught his eye for a moment and nodded. She knew he was worried, could see it in his eyes although she was sure he tried to hide it from her and the others. Ariadne smiled at him halfheartedly and she saw some of his worry fall away. His shoulders relaxed and when he spoke, Lucas Manning sounded confident. Like he needed to know that she would back him up with what he was going to say. Not that she was going to argue of he was going to keep them all alive.

"Our dad has an emergency bunker." he explained, laying a hand on Ariadne's shoulder. "He's kinda a survival and conspiracy loon, I guess. It's hard to find, easy to defend, and no where near a city or a larger town. It's safe from what ever those things are."

"Y'all tellin' me that we need ta leave Atlanta and travel nearly fifteen hundred miles all the way to Alpine, Texas ta hide in ya fathers bunker while the world turns ta shit?" Ryan asked, frowning, as he peered back out of the window, moving the curtain slightly to keep an eye on the situation outside.

Lucas gazed towards his best friend and his frown went even deeper. "Ryan, was your sister at home when you spoke to your mother earlier?"

Ryan just shook his head. Ariadne and Teeva exchanged a look. If Ryan's sister was still alive and in trouble then there was no way that they were going to not check it out. Natalie was family, just like Ryan was. It didn't matter that she was studying technology in Huntsville, Alabama. It didn't matter that she was nearly two hundred miles away and none of them knew what was happening up there.

"I suppose Natalie can protect herself?" Ariadne asked quietly, knowing full well Ryan's sister couldn't find her own ass with both hands and a flashlight. "She's clever enough to hide herself somewhere those Stiffs cant find her, but we can."

Ryan didn't look away from the window, but Ariadne could guess his thoughts. If Natalie had tried to go about this shit logically, then she wouldn't stand a chance at surviving without his help.

"Shit..." Tee mumbled.

Yeah, that summed it up quite well.

"We need to get out now." Luc reasoned. "We'll try to reach Huntsville and get Nat before we head down South. Start gathering stuff, some clothes, food, water... anything that won't weigh you down when we have to run for it. And Tee?" Teeva raised an eyebrow at him when her name fell, making Ariadne smirk slightly. "Put some sneakers on instead those heels you prefer. Don't want ya falling behind cuz ya broke ya God damn neck."

"Yes, sir." She replied doing a very rude one finger salute as she left the room, causing the dark mood in the room to break for a while.

Their father never rang back and they couldn't get a signal from their phones. That was one of the reasons they knew that they didn't have much longer to get as far away from the city as possible. By this time they could hear the Stiffs moving about in the hallways, groaning and dragging their bodies around and it was making them all on edge. Even more of them stumbled around the courtyard, which had started to fill with more people after the first girl had been killed.

"Guys, I think we should try getting out by fire escape." Ryan whispered, moving the curtains to take a look outside. Since he had finished stuffing his stuff into his football bag he had taken up position by the window, standing between the front door and the curtain, so that the others could pack without alerting any of their new friends. A baseball bat dangled in his hand, while anger lit up his eyes. "The Biters are blocking our way to the front door."

"Fuck..." Lucas hissed. "The Jeeps out front."

_Fucking great! _Ariadne thought, throwing an agitated look towards her brother. If his Jeep was out front, it only meant that they would have to get around the Stiffs and anything else that was in their way, just to take the sturdiest car they had.

"Now what?"

"We could steal a car." Teeva suggested, her voice as hushed as everyone else. "There's only five of us. We could hit a dealership on the way out of town and steal a second one."

Ariadne felt her eyes go wide as she turned to look at her best friend. "Steal a car? Tee, are you out of ya mind?!"

"No, Ari." Teeva shook her head.

"She has a point, Ariadne." Alexandria agreed, frowning like she didn't like what she was saying. But by the look Teeva was giving her, she wasn't the only one. It couldn't be a good thing if Teeva and Alexandria actually agreed on something; they hated each other more than Ariadne and Alexandria hated each other. "There's no way we can all get out of here if we head out front. Those... Those things are blocking the only exit to the car park that's anywhere near here and to be honest, I have a bad feeling when it comes to running past those things."

That Ariadne could relate to, even though she still didn't think it would be such a great idea if they stole some guys car. Frowning, she turned to look at Lucas and Ryan, who were speaking in hushed voices like they were fighting over something. Putting her heavy shoulder bag on the couch she started towards her brother and his best friend, but that was when the banging on the apartment door started, loud enough to lead every freaking Stiff in the building towards their rooms.

"Let us in! Manning, Jareau! Open the fucking door, man!"

Cursing, Luc raced over to the door while Ryan held his baseball bat up. "Have you been bitten?" Luc asked, his hand on the door knob while the girls took a step back. Ariadne placed herself in between the front door and Teeva, one of the kitchen knives in her hand and ready to attack if she had to. Lucas frowned at her shaking his head slightly.

_What? _She mouthed, hitching an eyebrow. Did he really expect her not to arm herself while those dead fuckers roamed the campus?

"What?!" The voice called back.

"No, man! But if you don't open this fucking door, then y'all 'ave three more fuckers to deal with!" Someone else yelled.

Ariadne could only recognize one of the voices; Hayden Kosina, the University's Wide Receiver, but she wasn't really surprised to see his two cronies Lou Turner and Tommy Rogers with him when Luc threw open the door to let them in.

"So much for the five of us..." Tee mumbled under her breath, sitting down on the couch with a disapproving look on her face.

"So much for a quiet escape..." Ariadne agreed, after her brother slammed the door. Every freaking Stiff would have been able to hear Hayden's banging. What was he fucking thinking?


End file.
